U of A hockey programs to use Nisku twin-ice facility as 2026-27 home

The main arena at the Silent Ice Center in Nisku, Alta.

The University of Alberta’s hockey teams are leaving campus for a season starting next year.

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With eight-to-10 months of maintenance work due to begin in the spring at their longtime campus hockey home, Clare Drake Arena, the men’s Golden Bears and women’s Pandas programs will relocate to Nisku’s Silent Ice Center for the 2026-27 season, the school announced on Wednesday.

The twin-rink facility, located just south of the Edmonton city limit east of Highway 2, officially opened in 2023. Its primary arena can hold 1,800 spectators and includes sky boxes, loge seating and four private suites.

“This state-of-the-art venue not only provides our student-athletes with an outstanding environment to train and compete, but it also allows us to further connect with and engage the hockey community in South Edmonton and beyond,” Leah Pezer, the university’s director of athletics, said in a media release. “We’re excited to share the energy, tradition, and excellence of U of A Hockey with a new audience next season, while providing our current fans a top-notch entertainment venue.”

Both the Golden Bears and the Pandas will use Silent Ice Center as their practice facility and for games in the Canada West conference.

Clare Drake Arena has been home to the Golden Bears since 1960 and the Pandas since 1997. The university told CTV News Edmonton on Thursday that infrastructure is the focus of the work being done to the arena, particularly fixing sewage and drainage problems.